A computer network is composed of a set of nodes and a set of links that connect one node to another. For instance, a computer network may be composed of a set of routers while the set of links may be cables between the routers. When a first node in the network sends a message to a second node in the network, the message may pass through many links and many nodes. The set of links and nodes that the message passes through while traveling from the first node to the second node is referred to as a path through the network.
Networks contain physical transport elements that are managed and arranged as needed to provide paths for transporting network data. For example, a network may utilize various optical switching components so as to provide an underlying, optical network for transporting network traffic. Once configured, various higher-level network services are transported over the optical paths, such as Internet Protocol (IP), Virtual Private Network (VPN), pseudowires, and others.
As one example, many networks use label switching protocols for traffic engineering the network services provided via the underlying transport elements. In a label switching network, label switching routers (LSRs) use Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) signaling protocols to establish label switched paths (LSPs), which refer to defined packet flows carried on the underlying physical network elements and the physical paths provided by those elements. The LSRs receive MPLS label mappings from downstream LSRs and advertise MPLS label mappings to upstream LSRs. When an LSR receives traffic in the form of an MPLS packet from an upstream router, it switches the MPLS label according to the information in its forwarding table and forwards the MPLS packet to the appropriate downstream LSR.
Today, the management and arrangement of the physical transport paths (e.g., the optical paths) of a computer network and the traffic engineered flows (e.g., MPLS paths) of the network traffic traversing those physical paths are typically set up and controlled by different network administrative entities using different administrative systems. As a result, in order to set up an MPLS path or other traffic-engineering flow through a network, the IP/MPLS network administrative entity may first need to request the optical transport network administrative entity to provide and allocate network resources for an underlying optical path, which may involve some delay and require additional coordination and resources.
A network operator may deploy one or more network devices to implement service points that apply network services such as firewall, carrier grade network address translation (CG-NAT), performance enhancement proxies for video, transport control protocol (TCP) optimization and header enrichment, caching, and load balancing. In addition, the network operator may configure service chains that each identify a set of the network services to be applied to packet flows mapped to the respective service chains. A service chain, in other words, defines one or more network services to be applied in a particular order to provide a composite service for application to packet flows bound to the service chain.